Into the Storm
by starrose2012
Summary: Katara, Aang and Sokka stop for a rest at a small secluded lake. But when a storm hits, you'll never guess who shows up to help...
1. Landing

Katara leaned out over top of Appa's side. Her fingers extended over the clouds, feeling the tiny little droplets of water as they hit her skin. Sokka sat next to her, his brow furrowing in concentration over the map that lay in front of him.

"Still starring at that map, Sokka? Haven't you memorized it by now?" Katara said mocking her older brother as he held up a hand to hush her.

"I'm trying to devise a strategy in order to get Aang to the North Pole as quickly as possible. And so far the only way I can think of is across the upper east side of the Earth Kingdom."

"So basically, the direction we have been traveling in for a day now. Right?" Katara said smirking.

"Oh go ahead! Make all your little jokes Katara! But you'd miss me if I wasn't here to make plans and you know it!"

"Doubtful."

"That isn't nice."

"It wasn't meant to be."

"Well maybe I should—"

"Will you two STOP?" Aang turned around from where he sat holding Appa's reins atop his head. "You're upsetting Momo."

Katara and Sokka blushed slightly at Aang's comment over their bickering.

"We're sorry Aang." Katara said apologetically "We don't mean to fight, sometimes it just,..er, slips out."

"It's cause we've been up here for too long." Aang said, "You too need a break from flying, and maybe each other. We'll take a rest." With that Aang flicked Appa's reins, leading him into a descending drop until they landed softly in a small lake. "We can rest here." Aang said as he dropped Appa's reins and airbended his way up into the saddle to sit next to the two Water Tribe siblings, "what do you say we go for a swim?"

"I don't think that's such a goo—" Sokka started to say but Katara cut him off.

"Last one in is a rotten, stinky, hogmonkey!" Katara said before stripping down and diving down into the lake. She hit the water hard and sent splashes up so high that Sokka was soaked.

"Wait for me Katara! Aang said as he stripped down then followed her into the lake. Sokka decided to leave it alone and joined the two in the lake.

After a few minutes of splashing, Katara stretched out on her back and began to float. As she did, she watched the sky rolling past her. The clouds were big and puffy, promising at least a few more hours of sun and good weather. What they had to worry about was the small stretch of dark, heavy thunderheads at the edge of her vision. They would most likely not arrive for a few more hours, but camp would need to be set up sooner rather than later.


	2. Preparation

"It isn't much of a tent now is it." Katara peered at Sokka's tent sideways, since it seemed to be sloping in that direction to begin with.

"It will be fine." Sokka replied as he finished tying the ends of the tent's upper canvas to the tent itself. This second layer kept the rain from soaking the tent, something that would come in handy when the approaching storm hit.

"It looks like it won't even stand up against Aang waving his hands, none-the-less a full blown storm." Katara commented bluntly as she dropped a small stack of branches and twigs beside the tent.

"It's better than nothing, unless you want to stand outside all night waterbending the water off of us."

"I would rather sleep in a cave then in a slopping, unsafe, and slightly bad-smelling tent." Katara replied with a small smile as she got to work starting a fire. She piled the branches and twigs into a sturdy pile, and then searched in her bag for some spark rocks.

"I wonder if Aang was able to find us any food, I'm _starving_." Sokka murmured unhappily as he held his grumbling stomach. "It's alright tummy, soon you will be all full of rich, tender meat. Yummm! Meat."

"I just hope that Aang makes it back before this storm hits." Katara answered with a uncertain look at the darkening sky,"I would hate for him to be trapped out in this storm all alone." Katara turned to glance worriedly in the direction that Aang had left in almost an hour ago. "What do you suppose is taking him so long?"

"_Katara!_ Aang is the Avatar. He sealed himself in a giant frozen ice ball in order to escape a storm 100 years ago, if he can't handle this then I think we have worse problems then some comet coming." Sokka sat down beside the pile of branches with a curious glance. "Are you still trying to light that?"

Katara gave him a pout, "Yeah, well, it's a lot harder than it looks alright? The wood dosen't seem to want to light. And we won't even be able to keep it going once the storm hits anyway!" Katara threw the two spark rocks angrily at the pile after her 20th try at lighting the fire. "Ughhh! I give up!" Sokka watched the two spark rocks move up and glide down straight into his lap.

"Good throw."

"Shutup."


	3. Lost

Aang was kneeling amongst an overgrown patch of underbrush, where a small collection of nuts and berries seemed to have rolled/ grown.

"I wonder if Katara and Sokka will be mad that I didn't bring back any meat. They always forget that I don't eat that stuff."

As Aang placed the last nut into the food satchel, he heard the threatening sound of incoming thunderheads. Sure enough, the slow-moving, coal-dark monsters could be seen above as the first flashes of lightening began to spark against the blackening sky.

"Uh-oh." Said Aang worriedly, "I guess I overstayed my welcome, eh Momo?" Aang turned his attention to the bright-eyed Flying Lemur that sat curled on his left shoulder. As if in acknowledgment of Aang's words, Momo began to chatter and shake his head apprehensively. "I agree buddy." Aang replied as he ran off, "We better hurry or we'll be caught right in the middle of this thing!"

"Sokka, I'm worried. Aang isn't back yet." Katara spoke loudly, so as to be heard over the howling winds and the sounds of the trees as the same wind practically ripped them apart. Overhead the sky had grown the color of a dead fireplace, with small zips of lightening picking their way across it like the sparks caught by spark rocks. "Maybe I should go look for him? He could be hurt!"

"Katara!" Sokka screamed at his sister even though they sat huddled together inside the leaning tent, which despite its sad appearance was holding off the storm surprisingly well. "It isn't safe for you to go out on your own now! What if you get lost? Then we will be right back where we started! It's better for us to stay here and wait out the storm."

"What we should have done was found shelter in a cave and not sent Aang out alone to find food." Katara countered with more spite then she actually meant to include. _After all, it isn't Sokka's fault we are in this mess really. And it wasn't his decision to send Aang, it was mine._ "It's my fault he's out there, I should—"Katara cut her own sentence off as dawning determination found itself inside her chest.

"Katara, I know that look, don't give me that look! That's the one you get right before you—"

But Katara was already up and out of the tent, grabbing her cloak and attaching it around her neck as she went. Sokka jumped up and scurried after Katara, grumbling as he went.

"This is NOT going to end well, but if I had meat I'd be more optimistic…well probably not." Sokka muttered angrily to himself as he fastened his own cloak around his neck and took off after his younger sister, straight into the storm.

"I think we're lost Momo," Aang said as he held a hand over top of his eyes to prevent the pouring rain from clouding his vision of the path. "I can't tell which way is which, everything on this island looks the same!"

Aang had long since slowed his pace, the storm had already hit and he was more than lost, it was better to take things slowly, at least for the moment.

"I'm getting soaked..." Aang held himself for a moment as he paused to rest under the (somewhat) coverage of a nearby tree. The rain wasn't just strong and falling like a sheet, but it was also terribly and inexplicably..._cold._ "I need to find shelter, and fast."

Aang looked around him again, trying hard to see through the pounding rain, but it was useless. No matter how hard he strained his eyes, he couldn't see more than a few feet ahead. The rain was just too thick.

"Oh well, I guess we are just going to have to trust our instincts, eh Momo?" Momo responded with a tired chatter, and an attempt at snuggling closer to Aang's neck for warmth. "I know buddy," Aang smiled as he gave Momo a loving pat, "You're cold too. Don't worry, I'm sure there has to be a cave or something near here, I'm pretty sure I passed one."

"AANG!" Katara used all the vocal force that her small and slender body contained, which was actually quite a lot. "AANGG!" She shouted again, cupping her mouth with her hands in order to intensify the sound of her voice. But it was useless as the sounds of her call died almost instantly among the whipping of the trees, the howling of the wind, the clapping of the thunder and the overall pounding of the rain.

"Katara," Sokka grabbed his sister firmly and pulled her closer so that she could hear his voice. "We really need to get out of this storm, it's getting to big. It's dangerous to be out in this. I'm sure Aang has found some sort of shelter by now. We should too. Look!" Sokka turned Katara's attention to a small cave that lay up and to the left of the path they were currently on, "See that? We'll go there, wait for the storm to die down a bit, and then we will go look for Aang some more ok?"

"I...guess." Katara let her gaze fall, she felt helpless and defeated. It was a feeling that she was not ok with, nor was it one that she was ready to settle with, but Sokka was right.

"See Momo? I thought I had seen a cave near here!" Aang smiled happily as he ran into the cave's gaping mouth, and sweet dryness. Momo flew off his shoulder and landed on a nearby rock, where he quickly curled up and fell into a shivery sleep.

"A little tired eh?" Aang smirked as he dried himself off with a little bit of strategic air-bending. He then began to look around the cave, but it was too dark both outside and inside to be able to see anything. "Well, if this is the home of a platypus-bear or something, I guess we won't know until its roaring in our ears." Aang sat down against the wall, which was cold but something to lean on and rest his head. He closed his eyes, and began to drift off into a gentle sleep.

"So, I see that the Avatar has come to me this time. That's a pleasant change of pace."

Aang's eyes snapped open as he saw that a bright fire was blazing in the middle of the cave's mouth. And sitting next to that fire, one hand resting lazily on his upraised knee, the other absentmindedly tossing a flame ball up in down like a ball, was Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation.


End file.
